Just a Boy
by MoonLLotus
Summary: The summer had started with his best friend coming out of the closet. Well, that was honestly a shocker for Sora. - Sori. REVAMPED.


Title:** Just a Boy**

Genre: Romance/ Friendship

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I no own

Warning: Unbeta'd, beware the errors please.

Summary: AU. The summer started with his best friend coming out of the closet. Well, that was honestly a shocker for Sora.

* * *

Resistance - By: Muse

The summer had started with a downpour of rain. The water came down in buckets, hitting the windows with such force that Sora was actually a little worried that the glass would break. It was nine in the morning, too early to be awake during summer vacation! Had it just been the rain, he would have been able to ignore it, but then the doorbell began to ring repeatedly.

With an annoyed sigh, the brunette rolled out of bed, not bothering to change out of his sloppy pajamas as he made his way down the stairs. Maybe one of his dumbass friends got caught out in the rain. Yeah, he could see Tidus or Selphie on the other side of his door. Selphie more so, Tidus was not a morning person.

What he wasn't expecting was his own best friend, soaked to the bone and with a grim grin on his face.

"Riku!" Sora's blood went cold at the sight of the other and his shellshock held him still for a good two minutes at the door. "Come in!"

He quickly closed the door shut and rushed to get a towel from the downstairs bathroom. The seventeen year old gave the towel to his friend to dry off a bit before ushering him towards said bathroom.

"Hey Sora," Riku shivered, grin firmly in place. But something about it didn't look quite right.

"Hey," Sora ran a hand through his messy bed head. "Not that I'm not happy to see you. But didn't you join the Marines? Like, weren't you being shipped off to Iraq by the end of this month? That's what your letters said."

Riku towel dried his hair, watching himself in the bathroom mirror while doing so. "Yeah, yeah I was. Things change when you're discharged."

"What!" Sora watched Riku. His friends' smooth, pale, skin looked yellow in the bathroom's light. Riku's bright green eyes were narrowed at his own reflection; pale blond hair was just beginning to grow out of its military fade. "Do your parents know about this?"

He could feel panic beginning to arise in the pit of his stomach. If Riku hadn't gone home first, he wouldn't know what to do.

His older friend nodded, throwing the towel of his head and rubbing, "Yeah."

That relieved the tension in his stomach a little, before rage took over. "Why the hell did they discharge you!"

"Because, somehow," Riku drawled slowly, towel still in place. "They found out that I'm gay."

If Sora's world hadn't already gone on a tilt that morning, it sure did at that moment.

* * *

D.A.N.C.E - By: Justice

After being gone for almost two year, having Riku back was surreal. He wasn't the same guy he had been before he left. But Sora supposed that that was what happened when one joined the military.

It had been two weeks since his friend had returned, and Riku was still assimilating back into civilian life with some complications. The fact that he was an ex-soldier was a bit obvious at times by the way he held himself. And he had moments when he was too silent, obviously suffering from some sort of depression. The military had been a dream of his since they were all children, and Sora felt horrible for him.

"Did he ever tell you why he was discharged?" Kairi asked in a quiet voice. She sat down next to Sora on the sandy beach. They watched their friends play volleyball further down on the shore.

The brunette teen thought a moment before answering his close friend.

"No." He lied. There was no reason to spread Riku's business around when he obviously wanted no one to know.

* * *

Hello - By: The Cat Empire

Her name was Olette, and she was the daughter of the woman who owned the flower shop. She also happened to have a huge crush on Sora, which the teenager was oblivious to.

"So, why are we here again?" Riku asked, eyeing Olette, who happened to be making eyes at Sora. The green eyed young man frowned but didn't say anything about it.

"It's my mom's birthday!" Sora explained the tenth time, "And she likes flowers." He walked up to a lovely arrangement of sunflowers and decided that they were perfect.

"Did you find everything okay?" Olette asked with a perky smile, she moved a piece of her brown hair behind her ear, bright green eyes clearly interested at looking into Sora's blue ones.

The boy nodded and grinned charmingly. Riku somehow managed not to roll his eyes at the entire exchange, refusing to look at Olette for fear of the look he just might send her. They left the store with a happy 'have a nice day!' following them out. Sora was about to put the receipt in his pocket but paused when he noticed something on it.

"Dude, I think she gave me her number!" He stared down at it with wide eyes. Things like this never happen to Sora. He could feel his face heat up in a fierce blush.

"That was bold of her." Riku admitted, feeling a little shocked as well. Olette didn't look like the type of girl who would do that. She must've really liked Sora. "Are you going to call her?"

The brunette looked over at his best friend and was silent for a minute or so chuckling. His smile a secretive one, "nope."

* * *

Bojangles - By: Pitbull

Kairi's parents were out of town for the week, which meant that there was a large party Friday night. Plenty of illegal alcohol, drugs, and other various activities which the kids on Destiny Island rarely indulged in. They were good kids, preferring spending quiet nights watching movies at each other's homes while playing lame card games. But, as Kairi had pointed out, it was good to get the experience of a crazy party at least once in their lifetime.

Sora had a Smirnoff Ice in his hands, it was a girly drink but he refused to have anything remotely strong. He was dancing with Selphie in the dining room. Both were pleasantly buzzed and just trying to enjoy themselves.

There were people all around them; almost everyone was from the main land, old school friends that they knew they'd never see again after this summer. Some were college kids, people who graduated the year before and just happened to be in town.

In the kitchen Sora saw his cousin Roxas and his 'best friend' (Sora swore that was a cover) Axel hanging all over each other and taking Jell-o shots. Some people were playing a drinking game in the living room, others were making out, dancing, or talking at random places of the large house.

The music was good, the company was light-hearted, it was a good party. So long as the cops weren't called on them that was.

Kairi was in the living room, making out with some random guy that Sora didn't recognize. Tidus and Wakka were talking to one of their old friends, Yuffie, about college. At the far end of the living room near the patio doors stood Riku. He had a red cup of vodka, probably the only drink he had all night, and suddenly Sora felt compelled to just go over to him. It was as if there were a gravitational pull around the other, and the younger teen couldn't stay away.

Breaking away from Selphie, he casually made a bee-line toward his best friend.

"I'm surprise you're not fending off girls, you were always Mister Popular when you were in high school." Sora grinned, enjoying how Riku's attention was solely on him.

Then again, his attention was usually solely on Sora, and the younger teen reveled in it.

A smirk quirked the blond's mouth, "I _was_ fending them off. But then you showed up and scared them all away."

"Hardy-har." Sora rolled his eyes, but his grin was still firmly in place. Then he spied Olette in the kitchen, and he was pretty sure she was looking right back at him. He never did call her. "Crap."

And Riku noticed, "Want to blow this Popsicle stand?"

"Oh God yes."

* * *

Animals - By: Neon Trees

"Hey, I'm sorry about the military." The words left the brunette's lips before he could stop them.

His best friend heaved a heavy sigh, "I'll be okay. I wasn't going to lie about it, it's a part of who I am. I knew the risks when enlisting."

Sora wasn't sure when he realized he was in love with Riku, he supposed that he had always known. It was as if it were something that was ingrained in him since early childhood, and it probably had been.

They were sitting on the couch, it was a random weekday, but Sora forgot which one. It was the summer; the days had a habit of blending together and not mattering. They were watching some comedy movie that was on daytime TV. It was pouring buckets outside once more, which wasn't all that surprising seeing as it was typhon season. Heavy storms were the norm from June to November.

"This is so stupid," Sora threw a piece of popcorn at the TV and Riku chuckled beside him in agreement. They were sitting a good foot apart on the couch, but, as subtle as he could be he moved closer to Riku until there were only a few inches between them.

They were silent as the rain pelted the outside of the house, and Sora gulped before resting his head on Riku's shoulder. The older teen suppressed a smile as he wrapped his arm around Sora's shoulder.

"This movie's not so bad now." Sora managed to say without stuttering or his voice cracking.

"No," Riku nodded in agreement, "It isn't."

* * *

Originally Written: 6/30/10  
Revamped: 8/9/12

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**FIN**

**MoonLLotus**: I love writing shuffle fics. UPDATED NOTE: Bear in mind, this fic was written back when the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy in the military was still in place. I knew a handful of people who were discharged for their sexual orientation. And it inspired this.


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